Quote Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant View Post
Then it needs to be unplugged, it is probably the cause of your issues. Unregulated they can (and will) get hot enough to kill a BP.

You must have a thermostat.

Here are 2 good ones, don't bother with the junk sold in pet stores.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000NZZG3S

http://spyderrobotics.com/

Do you at least have a probed thermometer?
x2!

What a lot of folks don't realize is that reptiles are not like higher animals and they won't always move away from an excessive heat source and will literally cook themselves alive. Unregulated heat mats can easily get to 130+ degrees Fahrenheit, which is more that hot enough to kill a ball python in short order.